Russia should be kicked out of its embassy in Ottawa, concludes the result of a fake vote held near the building to allegedly mock Kremlin-sponsored referendums in Russian-held areas of Ukraine.
“This is for [le président ukrainien] Zelensky,” says Kebir Alcime, casting his vote in the ballot box on the sidewalk in front of the Russian embassy, which reads “annexation of the embassy.”
The scene was made by immortal a video that went viral and shared thousands of times on Twitter. The demonstration, which has been taking place every day since Wednesday in front of the diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation, looks like a manipulated referendum on the fate of the sober building.
“Are you in favor of annexing the property at 285 Charlotte Street, Ottawa, Canada? we can read on the ballot papers, where the only possible answer in different languages is “yes”.
Unsurprisingly, the yes won in Friday’s count. The displayed result is 106%. There will be no recount.
Openly rigged voting
“Our referendum is running everywhere [le média social] Telegram, everywhere Russian telegram. It has even made headlines in some countries! ‘ claims one of its organizers, Angela Kalyta, in an interview with Duty.
The 36-year-old, whose grandmother immigrated from Ukraine, is among a small group of protesters who gather outside the Russian embassy on weekdays. Opponents of the war in Ukraine meet there in the late afternoon so that their flags and slogans can be seen by diplomats on their way home.
“It started as a joke,” Ms. Kalyta says of the vote to annex the embassy. “The joke is that this vote has no effect. Like the referendum votes in Ukraine. »
The bulletin, intended to resemble the way it will be issued by the Russians on Ukrainian territory, is on the letterhead of the “People’s Government of the Republic of Sandy Hill,” the district of the federal capital where the embassy is located. . He specifies that it is possible to vote multiple times and that “results will be adjusted to reflect the desired result”.
Last Friday, Russia formalized the annexation of four occupied Ukrainian territories, where it organized so-called referendums in the middle of a war zone. This new escalation of the conflict has been denounced by several countries, including Canada, while Russia is brandishing the threat of using nuclear weapons.
Tensions with diplomats
The protesters, met by Le Devoir among the 20 in attendance on Friday outside the Russian embassy in Ottawa, said they were heartened by Ukraine’s recent advances after months of Russia-led invasion war. You have recently taken to reading the list of children who have lost their lives in the conflict, published daily by the Ukrainian government.
“It’s always sad to see that every day, every week, a different event happens. But this initiative to hold a referendum brought us together [les manifestants] ” explains Fred May, holding a children’s hockey stick in the colors of Ukraine.
However, their persistence in demonstrating in front of the embassy’s barriers led to several clashes with Russian diplomats. The latter would have called the police, for example, claiming that their cars had been damaged.
In August, people driving a car with diplomatic plates stole a bicycle painted in Ukrainian colors that had been set up by protesters in front of the Russian embassy drew a “Z” on the road, a symbol of support for the invading Russian forces. Protesters claim the same car caught by surveillance cameras was seen in the embassy parking lot.
In September, the Russian embassy claimed an individual had attacked its embassy in Ottawa. She published Video from a surveillance camera of September 12, which appears to show a person throwing a Molotov cocktail at the building. “He definitely doesn’t fit into our small group. We obey the law and we are not here to attack them,” says Angela Kalyta.
However, it shows very different reactions from one diplomat to another, some throwing insults or propaganda, others joking.
To see in the video